Confirmed! 2014 Chevrolet SS Rear-Drive Performance Sedan

Next Sprint Cup Car Coming to Chevy Dealers in Late 2013

Pontiac G8 enthusiasts take note: the 2014 Chevrolet SS performance sedan is set to arrive in Chevy showrooms late in 2013, GM announced today. The highly anticipated four-door will wear the SS, or Super Sport, name we suggested over two months ago and will serve as Chevy's NASCAR Sprint Cup racecar, debuting at the 2013 Daytona 500. While we're thrilled the 2014 Chevy SS exists at all, the rear-drive sedan is really a placeholder car until an all-new North American model debuts, likely for the 2016 model year. In the meantime, the 2014 SS model will be built in Australia alongside the new Holden VF Commodore (the present-generation VE Commodore SSV is pictured below).

As expected, the 2014 Chevy SS will be underpinned by a version of GM's Zeta global rear-drive architecture that also forms the basis of the Camaro. But contrary to prior speculation, the SS will be more than a rebadged Caprice PPV tweaked for wide-scale production. The Chevy Caprice PPV sits on the long-wheelbase version of the architecture, while the Chevy SS will use the shorter wheelbase and, of course, come with a V-8 engine under the hood. Dimensionally, the Super Sport should be shorter than both the front-drive 201.3-inch 2014 Chevy Impala and the 204.2-inch PPV.

GM hasn't yet detailed specific powertrain or performance numbers for the brand's upcoming halo sedan, but we'd be stunned if it wasn't a version of the automaker's 6.2-liter V-8 with at least 400 hp; the Chevy Caprice PPV's 6.0-liter V-8 produces 355 hp. The present VE Commodore offers direct-injection 3.0- and 3.6-liter V-6s as well as a 6.0-liter V-8, and the eight-cylinder is available with either a six-speed automatic or manual transmission. Considering Chevy estimates PPV fuel economy at 15/24 mpg city/highway, the 2014 SS will probably fall in the same range as the V-8 powered 2012 Dodge Charger and 2012 Chrysler 300, which are EPA-rated at 16/25 mpg.

Of course, those aren't the numbers enthusiasts are after. When we tested a 2009 Pontiac GXP with a 6.2-liter V-8 and six-speed manual transmission, the car hit 60 mph in 4.5 seconds on to a 13.0-second quarter mile at 109.6 mph. How well Chevy will balance performance with price has yet to be determined. A 2012 Dodge Charger R/T with Chrysler's 370-hp 5.7-liter V-8 and a five-speed automatic costs $30,990 -- $2350 more for all-wheel drive. Will we ever see an all-wheel-drive Chevy SS? It's not clear, but such a variant would certainly go a long way toward assuring the car's U.S.-market longevity.

Standard and available options should include the Chevrolet MyLink connectivity system, HID headlights with LED daytime running lights, quad exhausts, Brembo brakes, and enough performance bragging rights to make enthusiasts everywhere drool. Whether a rear-drive Australian-built sedan will fare better in the U.S. this time around is an open question. Branded as a Chevy, it might have a chance at long-term success. The new four-door marks the first time since the B-Body Chevy Caprice and Impala SS were discontinued in 1996 that Chevy will offer a rear-drive sedan in the U.S. Decades earlier, the 1961 Impala became the first production Chevy with an SS option, though only 453 units were built.

The current Holden Commodore remains available not just as a sedan, but also as a wagon and ute. Don't count on seeing either variant in the U.S., though Pontiac toyed with the idea in the form of the G8 Sport Truck before the brand died. For now, we'll be happy with the SS. If it's anything like the dearly departed G8 GXP to start, we're pretty sure Chevy fans will be as well.